


All This Will Heal In Time

by Fallenstar92



Series: No Regrets, Just Love [3]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Angst, Asexual Character, Established Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Major Character Injury, Married Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Mental Health Issues, Mickey Uses His Words, Non-Bipolar Ian Gallagher, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Parents Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Post Mpreg, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2019-06-22 14:01:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15583530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallenstar92/pseuds/Fallenstar92
Summary: At the end of the day-despite all of their flaws-the Gallagher family sticks together. Picks up just a few hours after "The Life We Made"





	1. Our Scars Tell Stories Our Mouths Cannot

"Any news?" Fiona quietly asked Mickey as she walked back into the hospital waiting room, a drink carrier full of coffee cups in her hand.

"Still in surgery... Ian still won't move." Mickey informed his sister-in-law, taking one of the coffees and signaling towards where his husband was still sitting against the wall. "Feels guilty 'cause he froze, but... I mean, Ky's his fuckin' son, not some patient he's never met." Mickey argued, wishing Marley hadn't fallen asleep holding his arm so he could go back over to his husband.

"Still hasn't changed outta that shirt, either." Fiona observed, noting that Ian was still sitting there in the blood stained green shirt he'd come to the hospital in.

"Don't think he's gonna until he knows Kylan's okay." Mickey replied honestly. "Thanks for takin' Alek home; hospitals make the kid nervous."

"No problem. Mandy said to tell you her and Liam would stay with him until you guys knew somethin' about Ky." Fiona said, taking a seat next to Mickey. "Where is everyone?"

"Ian made Lip leave when he tried to get him to go change, Frank, Mama, and Debbie are outside smokin', Iggy and Zach are still with the cops, and Carl's takin' Eva and the kids home 'cause Brynn was gettin' antsy." Mickey said, cringing at the memory of Ian nearly throwing Lip across the waiting room and yelling "I'm not fuckin' leaving my baby!" at his older brother. "Mayla's callin' Lana to give her an update. Not much to tell her, though; we ain't heard shit in an hour."

"Think Zach and Iggy are gonna get any time?" Fiona asked, knowing that-if anyone could answer that question-it was a Milkovich.

"Fuller admitted to sleepin' with at least six kids sixteen and under, and our family ain't the only ones who knew." Mickey said as he took a sip of his coffee, clearly trying to think about the answer. "None of the kids wanted to go to the cops, but at least four sets of parents either came up to me at the school or came up here sayin' they knew the guy was doin' it. So, no; I think there's enough room for reasonable doubt to make the charges go away."

"What I wanna know is, what stopped the bullet? It clearly isn't..." Fiona couldn't finish that sentence without knowing if Kylan was alright. "So how did it miss Ian?"

"Cops found it lodged in the cover of Ky's diploma; Ian just got hit with the spatter." Mickey said with more acidity to his tone than Fiona had heard in years. Fiona could tell Mickey wanted to end the conversation, so she stood up, took Ian a cup of coffee, and moved to sit on the opposite side of Marley as the family waited for some news on Kylan.

 

"Hey!" Fiona heard Ian frantically whispering as he shook her shoulders. She wasn't sure when she fell asleep, but as soon as her eyes opened she was fully alert. "He's okay, Fi." Ian said, tears forming in his wide, green eyes.

"When did you find out?" Fiona asked, standing up to pull her brother into a tight hug.

"Few minutes ago; he lost a lot of blood and he's gonna be in here for awhile, but he's okay." Ian practically sobbed, just relieved that his son was going to recover. "Mick's back with him, now, but I thought someone should tell you." Ian explained as he pulled away from the hug. Fiona noticed, now, that Mayla and Katia were hugging the same way and that Frank, Marley, and Carl were all off to the side, trying to appear calm, though their tears gave them away.

 

"When I got pregnant with you, I was scared shitless, kid; I was workin' and goin' to school, your Dad worked crazy fuckin' hours, and May was still real young. I was so scared that we wouldn't be able to handle two kids, but I knew that I fuckin' loved you. Even if we'd have a hard fuckin' time, I knew that I absolutely loved you, Kylan." Mickey spoke to his son's sleeping form. "I swore I was always gonna protect you, but today? I had no fuckin' idea somethin' like that was gonna happen... I'm so sorry you got hurt, baby." Ian stood just inside the doorway, listening to Mickey talk to Kylan as if the boy was wide awake. It was killing him that he forgot all of his training the second he saw his son bleeding, and knowing that Kylan was going to make a full recovery had done little to make up for that fact.

"Mama loves you so much, my little monster." Mickey whispered, lifting Kylan's pale hand and kissing it. "Just gonna stand there all night?"

"Didn't think you heard me come in." Ian admitted, moving to stand next to his husband.

"I could smell your cologne and cigarettes." Mickey explained quietly. "It wasn't your fault, baby."

"I forgot everything I've been trained to do in these situations." Ian groaned, wishing he could've just... Done something to help his son when he needed him.

"Your son got shot; no one expects you to be level-headed." Mickey said, leaning his head against Ian's side.

"Just glad he's gonna be okay." Ian muttered, looking down at his baby boy as he wrapped his arm around Mickey's shoulders.

"Me, too." Mickey agreed, effectively ending the conversation so they could both just enjoy the knowledge that their son would recover.


	2. Waking Up, To Ash And Dust

"Mom? Wake up, Mom." Kylan whispered hoarsely, tapping Mickey's arm as he slept with his head resting on Kylan's hospital bed.

"Let him sleep, kid." Ian whispered to his son from the other side of the bed. "He was up all night waitin' for you to wake up."

"Dad, what happened?" Kylan asked, turning his head to look at his father, which seemed to take a lot of energy.

"Don't worry about it, right now, okay? Just focus on gettin' better." Ian said, running his fingers through Kylan's vibrant red hair. "Had us worried, Ky."

"Sorry... The last thing I remember is huggin' you after my Graduation and then... Then I remember my side hurtin' really fuckin' bad. Did my Appendix rupture or somethin'?" Kylan asked, clearly trying to piece together what had happened to him.

"Mister Fuller. He, uhm... He was pretty pissed off that people knew what he did; he brought a gun to the Graduation ceremony... He thought you had somethin' to do with it and..." Ian couldn't finish his sentence; he couldn't admit to his child that he'd forgotten his years of training and experience when he'd seen his son with a gunshot wound.

"Did anyone else get hurt?" Kylan asked, looking up at Ian with glassy green eyes.

"No, baby, everyone's okay." Mickey said as he lifted his head, trying to fight off a yawn. "How're you feelin'?"

"My side hurts a little bit." Kylan admitted, clearly in more pain than he was willing to let on.

"I'll go see if a nurse can come give you your pain meds; I gotta call Mayla and let her know you're awake. She's bringin' the twins up, later." Ian said, standing up and kissing his son's forehead before exiting the room.

"Is Dad okay?" Kylan asked Mickey, slowly turning his head to meet the man's blue eyes.

"He was just real worried about you; we all were." Mickey told his eldest son sincerely. 

"What's gonna happen to Mister Fuller?" Kylan asked, wondering how much trouble the man would be in for not only shooting a student, but sleeping with others, as well.

"I don't know, Ky." Mickey replied, but-as long as the bastard got locked up-he didn't care.

 

"You can't be in the interrogation room, Gallagher; the victim is your nephew." Carl's captain sighed when Carl asked to sit in on Cody Fuller's interrogation.

"Which is exactly why I wanna be in the room! He shot my nephew for no fuckin' reason!" Carl argued, just wanting a chance to knock that motherfucker's lights out.

"And if I let you in there? You do something stupid. You do something stupid? I lose one of my best officers." The captain told Carl, honestly. "Stay in the other room, watch him, and trust that we'll make sure he goes away."

"He better end up behind bars for a long time." Carl warned, stepping into the observation room to watch one of his colleagues interview Cody Fuller.

"The kid's friends fuckin' attack me, and  _I'm_ the one being interrogated?!" Cody shouted as soon as Officer Martinez walked into the room.

"You shot a defenseless seventeen-year-old boy-point blank-in a crowded public place. The boy's in the hospital, Mister Fuller." David Martinez informed Cody, glaring coldly at the man sitting across from him. "He's a good kid, too; stays outta trouble, not a single teacher has a bad thing to say about him... Everyone we talked to-however-had some choice words about you... A lot of 'em about what your arm says."

"His friends did this!" Cody yelled, holding his arm up to display the crudely carved words in his flesh.

"Heard it's true." David said with a shrug.

"Look... I... If I admit to it... How much time am I looking at?" Cody asked, seeing that the man across from him had reports from several parents in front of him.

"With the attempted murder charges for Kylan Gallagher? At least fifteen years." David informed Cody.

"And them?" Cody asked, hoping that-if he wad going down-that they were going down with him.

"They both got solid alibis, Cody." David said, making Cody angry.

"So I go away for having a sex life, and they get  _nothing_ for attacking me?!" Cody demanded, trying to jump to his feet, but having no luck since he was cuffed to the table.

"We got him." Carl sighed, feeling a weight being lifted off his shoulders as he watched Martinez exit the room.

 

"Carl says Fuller's lookin' down the barrell at fifteen to twenty." Fiona informed her brother as they made their way back to Kylan's hospital room after picking the boy up some food from a diner down the street after he asked for a strawberry milkshake and some french fries.

"Hope the bastard dies in prison." Ian seethed angrily.

"We all do, sweetface." Fiona confirmed. "We got lucky; Iggy and Zach didn't leave any prints and no one saw them. Also probably helps that Carl vouched for them."

"Yeah." Ian said, plastering on a fake smile before walking back into Kylan's room. "Got your food, Monster... Where's your Mom and Marley?" Ian asked as he gave Kylan his fries and shake.

"Mom's in the bathroom and Marley went to get a drink." Aleksandr informed his father as he stole a french fry from Kylan. "Any news from Uncle Carl?"

"Everything's good." Ian confirmed, gently squeezing Kylan's shoulder as the boy slowly relaxed and ate some of his fries. He felt better knowing Cody would be punished for what he'd done, and Ian couldn't blame the poor kid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I reorganized this series so the the main stories are in chronological order. Leave me some comments to let me know what you thought of this chapter. Much love!


	3. And I'm Coming Home

"Mom, I'm fine!" Kylan argued weakly as Mickey held on to the boy's elbow to help him into the Gallagher's home. Kylan was beyond thrilled to be released from the hospital after two weeks, but he wasn't sure he could take his parents' constant coddling until he left for college in September, when he'd be moving over two hours away from his family to Champaign, Illinois.

"Welcome home, asshole." Marley greeted, gently hugging her brother once he was inside.

"Thanks, Lee." Kylan grunted, his side still in pain from the gunshot and resulting surgery.

"Go easy on Ky, Diva; don't want his stitches to rupture." Ian reminded his daughter as he walked into the house behind his husband and eldest son, Kylan's belongings stuffed into the duffel bag in Ian's left hand.

"Why's my blanket down here?" Kylan asked as he slowly lowered himself onto the couch, spotting his favorite blanket-the raggedy Avenger's blanket his Grandpa Frank had gotten him for his sixth birthday, that he would deny to anyone aside from his family that he had kept for so long-sitting on the arm of the couch.

"Doctor don't want you doin' too many steps, right now, so you're stuck down here 'til your stitches come out." Mickey informed Kylan, kissing the boy's head as he made his way to the kitchen.

"I still don't get it; he was pissed off at Uncle Iggy and Uncle Zach, so why the Hell did he shoot me?" Kylan asked, pulling the blanket around himself. Though he was trying to remain strong, the shot had deeply effected him, not that either of his parents-or any of his siblings, for that matter-blamed him.

"He was pissed off 'cause he got caught and he wanted to take someone else down with him." Ian said, taking a seat on the arm of the couch next to his son, wishing he could give the boy a better answer.

"So what's next?" Kylan asked his parents, looking up pleadingly at Mickey when he walked back into the living room, passing Kylan a bottle of water before sitting on the couch next to his son.

"We make sure that asshole can't hurt anyone else." Aleksandr answered as he rushed down the stairs to join the rest of the Gallaghers, shocking his family, thoroughly; Aleksandr wasn't a violent person, but the look in his eyes told everyone that he would resort to violence at this point.

"No matter what it takes." Marley agreed, giving her twin a subtle nod that spoke volumes. Kylan didn't respond, just sat back and closed his eyes to take a short nap; he was still technically recovering, after all.

 

"This is everyone?" David Martinez asked Cody Fuller, looking over the list of names the man had given him; a list of his victims.

"That's everyone." Cody confirmed, looking down at the table. He just wanted this shit over with so he could get out of this police station.

"Great." David said, feeling disgusted by the amount of names Cody had written down; there were at least ten victims they needed to try and contact in an attempt to find  _someone_ willing to testify against Cody Fuller.

 

"Hello." Amara Carmine greeted as she opened the front door of her house, surprised to see two police officers standing outside. "Can I help you?"

"Misses Carmine, my name is Carl Gallagher and this is my partner, David Martinez. Is it possible for us to speak to you and your son, William?" Carl asked, wishing he hadn't volunteered for this job.

"Of course. Will's upstairs, why don't the two of you come in and I'll go get him." Amara said, looking slightly nervous as she stepped aside to allow Carl and David to enter her home. This conversation was not one that Carl was looking forward to having, but he was praying Will Carmine would agree to help them put Cody Fuller away, if-for no other reason-it was for Kylan, alone.


	4. Baby

Will Carmine stayed silent as Carl and David explained what Cody had done to him, occasionally rubbing his very prominent baby bump; he knew his mother was mess, but he'd been waiting for this moment for a year. "The baby's due any day, now." Will said, looking down at his distended abdomen.

"Would you be willing to consent to Paternity test being preformed on the baby?" David asked, admiring how strong this boy was.

"You'd have to talk to Mayla Gallagher and Lana Reading; they're adopting him." Will informed the two officers, who nodded in response.

"I hit Kylan Gallagher for nothing..." Amara whispered, abolished with herself.

"You didn't know." Carl offered, knowing how terrible Kylan felt lying to Amara Carmine, and he could see why; she was very kind-hearted and had only done what she did because she loved her son.

"Do you have children, Officer Gallagher?" Amara asked, looking up at Carl with tearful brown eyes.

"Two of them. I also have three nieces and three nephews." Carl replied, smiling as he thought of Debbie's two month old daughter, Frances Harriet Carson.

"Kylan's your nephew." It wasn't a question; Amara clearly knew Carl was related to Mickey and Ian. "You look a bit like your brother."

"I get that, sometimes." Carl said with a slight smile.

"Make sure he rots in prison." Amara said, eyes fierce in a way only a mother's could be.

"I promise, I will." Carl swore, looking straight into Amara's eyes so she knew he was serious. He would make sure Cody Fuller never saw the world outside of prison walls, again, for kids like this; for kids like his nephew.

 

Kylan was glad his parents were both home, today, because-as fucking embarrassing as it was-he had a hard time moving to even go to the bathroom, on his own. "Thanks, Dad." Kylan mumbled as he slowly sat back on the couch.

"Not a problem, kid." Ian said, wishing he could get rid of his son's pain when he noticed how Kylan winced when he sat back down.

"This is gonna fallow me everywhere, isn't it? I'll always be the kid who got shot by his teacher 'cause they fucked the same person." Kylan lamented, staring down at his pale hands.

"I can't answer that, Ky." Ian said, gently sitting down beside his son. "Your name's not connected to the case 'cause you're underage, but I can't tell you what's gonna happen a few years from now."

"I know you told Uncle Carl I'm not gonna testify." Kylan said, which completely shocked Ian; he'd been certain his son was asleep when he'd talked to Carl. "I want to. He'll get, what, thirty years total for all of the child molestation charges? With the extra twenty he'd get for attempted murder there's a chance he won't get out before he dies."

"They can get those charges without you bein' in the courtroom, Monster." Mickey said as he walked down the stairs, looking ready to fight Kylan on this.

"I want to; I wanna know I helped put the sick fucker away." Kylan argued, looking up pleadingly at Mickey. "I can do this, Mom."

"Not gonna be able to talk you outta this, am I?" Mickey asked in a sigh, running his fingers through his suddenly graying hair. Kylan had never seen a single strand of gray in Mickey Gallagher's hair, but now? Now the sides were nearly completely silver.

"Did... Did you stop dyin' your hair?" Kylan asked Mickey, wondering how he'd kept the gray hair secret for so long.

"Huh?" Mickey asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he stared at his son in confusion, making the wrinkles on his forehead stand out. When had he started aging like this? Once Ian and Mickey had hit their late thirties Ian had looked like the elder of the two men, and now Mickey looked every day of his forty-one years. Kylan felt his stomach drop as he came to the conclusion that he had something to do with the change in his Carrier Parent's appearance.

"Nothing." Kylan muttered, pulling his blanket back around himself and trying to force his eyes closed so neither of his parents would recognize the guilt in his eyes.

 

Six Months Later

"You sure you wanna do this?" Mayla asked her brother as she adjusted her five and a half-month-old son, Mason, in her arms.

"I need to." Kylan replied, smiling softly at the gorgeous baby in his sister's arms. Mason Loxley Reading looked exactly like Will, and Kylan could never express how happy he was about that; about the fact that Mason would never see Cody Fuller looking back at him from the mirror.

"Mama and Daddy are gonna stay with you the whole time." Mayla reminded Kylan, kissing his cheek as she exited the bedroom her brother's had always shared.

"I know everyone keeps asking, but are you okay?" Aleksandr asked his brother as he slowly entered their bedroom, still looking every bit a carbon copy of Mickey.

"I'm good." Kylan replied with a nod. "Therapist thinks this'll be good for me."

"And what do you think?" Aleksandr asked quietly.

"I think the bastard shot me, is the source of the only STI I ever contracted, got me hit by Will's mom, and made  _our_ mom worry so much that he started goin' gray. I need to do this, Alek; not just for me, but for the whole family." Aleksandr seemed to accept Kylan's answer, but he still stuck very close to his brother on the off chance he'd have a breakdown of some kind as the Gallagher family made their way to the courthouse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sick, so leave me some comments to make my day, beauties! Much love!


	5. No More Room To Breathe

"We're gonna head in." Mayla said quietly, ushering Marley-who had decided she was taking Mason for the day on the pretense of "I'm his favorite Aunt!"-and Aleksandr into the the overflowing court room.

"Half the faculty is in there." Kylan observed as the doors closed, leaving him outside with his parents. "You're not sendin' Alek and Lee back there next year, are you?"

"If you remember we tried to take you three out when you told us, but you begged us to let you finish your senior year where you started High School." Ian reminded his son.

"I had a plan." Kylan said calmly, taking a seat against the wall.

"You keep sayin' that." Mickey pointed out, moving to sit beside Kylan, running his fingers through the boy's hair lovingly. "You ever gonna tell us what that plan was?"

"When I'm in front of the judge." Kylan replied, feeling a knot forming in his stomach. "Don't really wanna talk, right now."

"Okay." Ian said softly, moving to sit on the other side of his son. Since the shooting both men had noticed a change in their son, but they continually tried to pretend Kylan would go back to being the snarky, sarcastic boy he'd been since the first words he'd spoken. They knew he wouldn't, of course-Kylan's senior year of high school had been nothing short of a turbulent disaster-but they still hoped they'd see  _their_ Kylan, again, at some point.

 

"State your name for the court, please." The prosecutor gently instructed Kylan, watching the boy as Kylan looked up from his pale hands to meet his family's eyes.

"Kylan Gallagher." Kylan said, feeling his heart rate pick up when he noticed Cody Fuller's eyes on him for the first time since his Graduation ceremony.

"And how did you come to be involved in the trial against the defendant, Cody Fuller?" The prosecutor asked the-clearly nervous-eighteen-year-old boy.

"Mister Fuller shot me." Kylan deadpanned. Though he was clearly anxious, Mickey and Ian were just glad to see a sliver of Kylan's wit return.

"And before that?" The prosecutor prompted.

"I was in a sexual relationship with one of Mister Fuller's victims. The boy found out he was pregnant and assumed the child was mine until we put the timeline together; he had been pregnant for a month before we got together." Kylan explained quietly.

"And this was William Carmine, correct?" The prosecutor asked Kylan.

"Yes." Kylan answered, trying not to look at Cody.

"And you were aware that Cody Fuller was the father of Mister Carmine's child?" The prosecutor asked, stepping in front of Kylan so all the boy could see was kind brown eyes.

"Not at first, but once we found out Will had contracted Gonorrhea from Mister Fuller and had given it to me, Will finally told me." Kylan answered the man as honestly as he could, hoping he hadn't forgotten anything.

"But you didn't go to the Principal to inform him of Mister Fuller's crimes?" The prosecutor-James Davis, Kylan reminded himself-asked Kylan.

"No. I wanted Mister Fuller to think he'd gotten away with it; wanted him to get reckless so the police would be able to find more evidence than just the word of two teenage boys. At that time, I had no idea that there were any other victims." Kylan confirmed.

"Can you walk the court through the day of the shooting?" James asked, making sure Kylan was looking at him.

"My Dad and Mom woke my brother-Alek-and I up before my older sister-May-and her girlfriend, Lana, got to the house with their son-Will's baby-Mason. I got ready to go to my Graduation-I can still feel my Mom messin' with my hair the whole morning 'cause he said it looked like a mess-and went to the school with my family. I watched my parents the whole time I was on stage-my Mom was cryin' and Dad just smiled at me-but I just... Somethin' felt off; I wanted to get to my Mom." Kylan recalled quietly.

"And why did you feel you needed to get to your mother?" James asked, trying to get Kylan to go further into detail.

"At the time I didn't know; I just thought it was the fact that everyone in my family was starin' at me, and I know my Mom hates when everyone starts swarming one of us-it makes him nervous when people keep grabbing us and pulling us around-so I thought I just wanted him to get me outta there. But-looking back-I think I could feel Mister Fuller's eyes on me." Kylan clarified. "When I could go over to my family, I hugged everyone. I had just let go of my Dad when I heard someone clear their throat behind me.

"Mister Fuller said something-I can't remember what-and then... Then my side hurt like Hell. I started to feel real tired and I wanted my parents... Then everything went black." Kylan felt sick as he thought back to the pain he felt as he was shot.

"Defense?" James asked, turning to look at Cody's lawyer.

"The defense has no questions for the witness." The defense attorney muttered, looking through notes quickly. Kylan had never run as fast as he did when he exited the courtroom, feeling like there was no air left in the room.

 

"Ky!" Mickey shouted, chasing his son down, feeling helpless as the boy gasped for air. "Ky, Kylan, baby, I need you to look at me." Mickey gently prompted, sitting on the Courthouse steps next to his son. Kylan listened, looking into Mickey's eyes helplessly. "Good. Now, I want you to breathe with me, okay?" Mickey took Kylan's hand, placing it over his own heart and taking slow, steady breaths to guide the eighteen-year-old.

Ian watched Mickey guide their son through his panic attack, holding the twins as they both tried to hold back tears, hating to see their big brother so lost and broken. Mayla-who was standing behind her father with her son in her arms and her girlfriend at her side-placed a gentle hand on Ian's shoulder, silently lending her support to her distraught father while Mickey pulled Kylan into a tight hug, rubbing his baby boy's back as he cried. He was broken, now, but Kylan Gallagher might just have the best support system out there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me some comments, Beauties! Much love!


	6. Rational Thought Went Out The Window

The phone call Ian received from Carl telling him that Cody Fuller was dead did little to ease the pain the man had caused; he'd killed himself in his jail cell the night before he was set to be sentenced for his crimes, but his victims? They still had to attempt to rebuild their lives after everything he'd done. And Ian was witness to just how difficult that was. "Hey, kid." Ian cautiously greeted his son two days after the family had been informed of Cody Fuller's death.

"Hey." Kylan replied, eyes locked on his computer screen.

"Getting ready for your classes?" Ian guessed, attempting to get Kylan to say more than one word-which seemed to be his limit, recently-at a time.

"Sorta; I'm goin' over my application to spend a year studying in Ireland." Kylan sighed, finally meeting his father's eyes. "I know you and Mom are worried about me, but I gotta get out of here; I've been a fuckin' mess since my High school graduation, and I can't fix any of it until I get away from Chicago." If Ian wasn't so shocked by hearing his son actually speaking in full sentences, he would have felt the crushing pain of his son wanting to leave the country, faster.

"You want to spend a year away from home?" Ian asked slowly, not wanting to say it was a bad idea, but certainly feeling it.

"Dad... I said Mason was at the ceremony when I was on the stand. I can't keep shit straight in my head, and it's all connected to home." Kylan said, hoping Ian would see things his way.

"Are you sure about this, though? It took you months to find a therapist in Champaign." Ian said, looking up when he heard the familiar footfall of his husband. He hoped Mickey hadn't heard anything Kylan had said, because Mickey had a harder time with their children leaving home than Ian. Of course Ian loved his children, but Mickey had a closer connection before they were even born; he had carried all four of them inside his body for months, after all.

"What's goin' on, down here?" Mickey asked, affectionately squeezing his son's shoulder as he made his way to the coffee pot.

"I was tellin' Dad about the program I applied for." Kylan said, muttering a "thank you" to Mickey when the man refilled his mug.

"And I was trying to tell him I don't think it's the best idea." Ian said, looking to Mickey for support when the brunette sat next to him at the kitchen table.

"Why?" Mickey asked, looking over the essay Kylan had pulled up on his laptop.

"Why? Why would it be a  _good_ idea for our eighteen year old bipolar son-who is currently being treated for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from being  _shot_ at his High School graduation-to spend an entire year on another continent? Somewhere he can't just come home to us when shit gets to him?" Ian ranted, jumping to his feet and marching out onto the back porch with a cigarette in his hand.

"Ian! What the fuck was that?!" Mickey viciously asked his husband, slamming the back door to their house as he walked outside to confront Ian. "He really wants this!"

"He's not ready for it!" Ian shouted in response.

"He needs some time away from this shit!" Mickey argued in his son's defense.

"How are you okay with this?! When May left for college you stayed awake for three fuckin' days because you were worried the cops were gonna call sayin' she was in an accident!" Ian knew he was being a prick, but he just didn't get it; how was Mickey okay with this?

"Because I want our fuckin' son back! He's been quiet and reserved and I fuckin' hate it! I want my god damn kid back, and if this is how it happens? Then I'll get a fuckin' passport and go to Dublin to see him!" Mickey's voice wavered as he shouted, and Ian knew he should back down before this turned into a major fight between his husband and himself.

"Mick-" Mickey cut Ian off with a shake of his head.

"I'm gonna go pick Phantom up from the Vet." Mickey said as he turned an walked into the house without giving Ian a chance to apologize to him. Ian had fucked up, but he needed Kylan to show him that he could truly handle this before Ian could wrap his head around his son being out of the country for a year. 

 

"So, this is the list of classes I registered for, the dorm registration form, a list of every therapist in a ten mile radius of the campus, places that are known for working with students around their schedules so they can work part-time, and a work study program the school sponsors in local grade schools so I can get some of my student-teaching time in while I'm in Ireland." Kylan rambled off, showing Ian each and every page of research he'd done.

"You really thought about this, didn't you?" Ian asked, flipping through page after page of information his son had collected.

"Yeah." Kylan replied, looking at a picture of a gorgeous old apartment complex that served as dorms.

"Do it; if you need us, we're a phone call away." Ian said, pulling Kylan into a hug. "You're a smart kid, Ky; you can do this." Ian still wasn't completely okay with Kylan being so far away for so long, but Mickey was right; Kylan needed this.


	7. Back To Bed

Even though Ian had-somewhat-accepted Kylan's choice to study abroad, Mickey hadn't forgiven him; he had spent the better part of three days without even hearing his husband speak to him, and it was starting to drive Ian crazy. "Daddy, I'm gonna take Ky and the twins back to the house, with me. One of us will call you if they decide to stay the night." Mayla said, walking around the couch to take her sleeping son from Ian and kiss her father's cheek. "Talk to Mama, okay?"

"He don't wanna talk to me, Princess. But you guys have fun." Ian sighed, stroking his grandson's-and fuck if that didn't still sound weird-soft, dark hair.

"I love you, Daddy." Mayla sighed before leading her siblings out to her SUV. Ian wanted to talk to Mickey-God, did he want to talk to Mickey-but Mickey was avoiding him like the fucking plague!

"Mickey, wait!" Ian shouted when he noticed Mickey making his way downstairs with a sealed bag-which Ian assumed had the supplies Mickey had used to clean Phantom's incision from having a cyst removed from his side-in his hands. "Mick, baby, please talk to me!"

"I gotta get the cat's meds." Mickey muttered, trying to push past Ian and get to the kitchen.

"Mickey, I know Ky told you I talked to him. So why won't you just talk to me?" Ian asked, still blocking Mickey's path easily.

"I got nothin' to say, Ian, so get outta my way so I can take the damn cat his pain meds!" Mickey barked, shoving Ian with his shoulder and finally walking into the kitchen to get the bottle of medicine.

"For fuck's sake, Mickey! We've been married for almost twenty-six years; I know you better than anyone on Earth, so cut the shit and fuckin' talk to me!" Ian shouted, cornering Mickey against the counter. "Baby, I miss you and you're in the same room. Do you see the problem, there?"

"You remember when he snuck out to see Allison right after he realized Will's baby wasn't his? Shit's worse, now; I'm fuckin' scared! What if we lost him over this shit?" Mickey ranted, avoiding Ian's eyes as he spoke. "Mom's gettin' worse." And there it was; the real problem. Ian, Mickey, Mandy, Iggy, Lip, Arden, and all four of Mickey and Ian's children had noticed that Katia was losing weight, staying sick, and looked much older, but they hadn't known until last week that it was stage four stomach cancer.

"Her doctor said the treatments would take a lot outta her." Ian offered, wishing he could do more to help Mickey when the man knew he'd lose his mother, soon. The treatments were nothing more than a small ray of hope, but Katia was desperate to stay with her family just a bit longer; her cancer was too far along to hope for complete remission, but they could all cling to the possibility of her having another year with her family.

"My Mom's dying, Ian. I can't lose her, and know I might lose my son, too. He needs this." Mickey whispered, finally looking up at his husband.

"We'll figure out a way to go see him while he's in Ireland." Ian conceded, finally understanding Mickey's reasoning. "We can go see Mama, later. Right now? Just go back upstairs and lay down with Phantom." Ian gently ordered, kissing Mickey's forehead before ushering the brunette up the stairs.

 

"Mikhailo! How are you, my Anhel?" Katia asked, slowly sitting up in her bed as Mickey and Ian entered her bedroom.

"I'm good, Mama." Mickey replied, forcing a smile as he moved to kiss his Mother's cheek. Mickey had always been a Mama's boy, and Ian was crushed to see that his husband was trying to hold on for the woman he loved more than anyone. "How was Chemo?"

"I am feeling stronger everyday, Mikhailo." Katia swore, her eyes getting heavy.

"Go back to bed, Mama; we'll be here when you wake up." Ian promised, already leading Mickey into the living room so he could let the tears he was holding back for Katia's sake out.


	8. Thea And Winnie

Kylan had never been a nervous person as a child; he was a happy, confident person and loved being around other people. That had changed after the shooting, so Mickey and Ian had come up with an idea; they decided to look into therapy animals. They couldn't get a dog, because-like Mickey-Kylan was allergic. Luckily, they ended up finding a beautiful, sweet four-year-old long-haired Calico cat named Theodora-though Ian had shortened it to "Thea"-trained as a therapy animal to help Kylan through his anxiety. "Oh my God! Hi, Precious!" Marley exclaimed as she walked down the stairs with her brothers, instantly spotting the cat on Ian's lap.

"Phantom's gonna be pissed about this." Kylan joked, moving to pet Thea's head.

"Phantom liked her when he saw her." Mickey said, reaching over to pet the black cat beside him, curled up in his favorite blanket to nap.

"Why did you get another cat, though?" Aleksandr asked, moving to sit next to Phantom and pet Thea.

"She's a trained therapy animal." Ian explained, smirking when he saw a look of realization flash across his eldest son's face. "Her name's Theodora-we call her Thea-and she's four."

"Hey, little lady." Kylan said, shakily, slowly reaching his hand out towards Thea. "Aren't you a sweetheart." Thea purred as Kylan scratched her ears, leaning into the touch lovingly.

"No fair; I want a cat!" Marley pouted, moving to sit on the coffee table in front of her family.

"Congratulations! His name's Phantom; he's seven, likes sleepin' on people's feet, and his fur's finally growin' back in after havin' surgery." Mickey said, sarcastically, watching Aleksandr pick Phantom up out of the corner of his eye. All four of their kids had always loved cats, but Aleksandr was on a different level; he absolutely doted on Phantom-and Onyx before her death-and was the one mainly taking care of Phantom after his surgery.

"That's Alek's cat and we all know it." Marley laughed, softly, watching her brothers hold their cats close to their chests. "Look, I don't need a therapy animal or anything, but you know that stray cat behind Mayla's shop? She had a litter of kittens a few weeks ago; May's takin' the other two and the Mama to the shelter, but her and Lana are keepin' the little white one, and I  _really_ love the grey one!" Marley quickly explained, showing Ian and Mickey the pictures she'd taken of the sweet Tabby cat and her four kittens; one solid white-Mayla had named him "Zero" as soon as she saw his bright pink nose-two identical to the mother, and one beautiful little charcoal grey kitten with big, beautiful blue eyes.

"I call her Winnie." Marley admitted. She had fallen head-over-heels in love with the mother cat-who Mayla, Lana, and Marley all called "Dolly"-and adored the other three kittens, just as much, but something about Winnie was different; she felt like Winnie needed her, for some reason.

"You gotta take care of her, yourself." Mickey warned, not wishing to be responsible for Phantom and two new cats.

"Deal!" Marley squealed, launching herself at Mickey. "Thank you, Mama!" Mickey was concerned that Marley-who was a bit hesitant to take responsibility of anything-would have a hard time adjusting to taking care of a kitten, but she was right; Mayla had Onyx when she was younger, Kylan now has Thea, and Aleksandr has Phantom, so maybe it was time for Marley to have a cat of her own.

 

**Three Weeks Later**

"Come on, Thea; walk time." Kylan said, strapping Thea into her harness so they could go on their daily walk. Kylan had instantly become attached to the Calico cat, and Thea clung to her boy. "Good girl, Thea." Kylan grabbed a treat from the jar Lana had given Marley for Thea, Winnie, and Phantom and gave it to the cat. "Does she ever walk?"

"When she's not sleepin'." Marley said, calmly, walking into the kitchen with Winnie asleep in her arms.

"Let's go, Thea." Kylan said, shaking his head at his sister as he lead his cat outside.

"Thea's helpin'." Ian whispered to his husband from where they were curled up together on the couch, watching Kylan talk to his cat as he walked past the living room window.

"Winnie, too." Mickey replied, turning to watch Marley set Winnie on her tiny paws and retrieve the kitten's food from the cabinet. They had seen glimpses of the old, vibrant Marley since she brought her kitten home, and both parents were relieved that the two newest Gallaghers had seemed to help their middle children heal.


End file.
